The college basketball offseason is here, and we decided to have some fun over the next few months, ranking ALL 364 teams in D1. Number 170 is TCU basketball.
Before you say we’re crazy – or that all of this is up for debate, let’s go over the very intricate process of how we came to this conclusion. We took a very statistical approach – with the help of Chat GPT – taking into consideration everything from March Madness wins and finishes, to AP Poll appearances, to conference players of the year. And then, a good friend of ours, Scott Blanchard, took our approach to the MAX.
Click here to visit the FIRST article, which explains how the formula works!
Here’s the breakdown of TCU basketball!
NCAA Tournament Success
- Championships: 0
- Finals appearances: 0
- Final Fours: 0
- Elite Eights: 1
- Sweet 16s: 4
- NCAA wins: 8
- Bids: 12
Consistency Over Time
- Wins per season: 12.0
- Bids per season: 0.11
- AP Polls: 65
Player Quality & Talent
- All-Americans: 0
- NBA players drafted & played: 7
- Conference Players of the Year: 5
Conference & Other Success
- Conference regular season titles: 11
- Conference tournament titles: 0
- NIT titles: 1
- Other tournament titles: 0
Overall scoop on TCU basketball
Our next Power 5 program in these rankings is TCU at 170th.
The Horned Frogs have lately turned into an above-average Big 12 team under Jamie Dixon. The former Pitt Panthers coach got to Fort Worth, TX, in 2016 and has put together seven 20-win seasons. That has included lots of AP Poll rankings and March Madness appearances in 2018, 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2026. In Dixon’s first season, TCU won the NIT.
It has really been an incredible job from Dixon, because TCU was previously a struggling Big 12 program, and before that, a struggling Mountain West team. But in 2018, the Horned Frogs got a 6-seed in the tourney and totally paved the way for the current success. NBA star Desmond Bane, as well as Kenrich Williams, were on that squad that went 21-12 overall.
After some so-so seasons, TCU has been as consistent as ever, with four tourneys in the past five seasons. In 2022, TCU took down Seton Hall for a round of 32 spot. They’d get back to that round in 2023, with Mike Miles leading the way on both teams. TCU didn’t win a game in the tournament in 2024, but went back to the round of 32 this past March.
While Dixon has given TCU basketball unforeseen consistency, they have had other notable seasons in the past. The last really good coach for the program before Dixon was Billy Tubbs, who went 155-96 between 1994 and 2002. That included a tourney bid in 1998 as a 5-seed.
In 1987, with Dixon starring on the roster, head coach Jim Killingsworth led them to the round of 32, falling by a point to 5-seed Notre Dame, just short of a Sweet 16 bid.
But interestingly enough, TCU has been to four Sweet 16s. When the tourney was smaller, the 1952, 1953, and 1959 bids all counted as Sweet 16s, despite not winning a game in March. But in 1968, they did take down Kansas State, falling in the Elite 8, the furthest they’ve ever made it.
For the tournament bids TCU had in the ’50s, Buster Brannon was the head coach. He did a tremendous job at first, but finished his tenure with eight straight seasons of 10 wins or fewer. TCU certainly held on to him, arguably by at least five years too many. But to his credit, they were often a great team in the ’50s.
While Bane could wind up being the best TCU player to star in the NBA, Kurt Thomas still holds that distinction. The 10th overall pick in 1995, Thomas played 18 seasons in the league, retiring with over 7,000 career rebounds.
TCU is definitely a step above our previous Power 5 programs: Penn State, Ole Miss, UCF, and Northwestern. But most of it is recent, or a brief run in the 1950s. Besides that, they were mostly a big school playing in a high-major league, not doing much. But current TCU fans have to be excited about the trajectory.